


Not Worth the Trouble

by sarahgirl1998



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Party, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sick Character, Sneezing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: Sometimes it just isn’t. Especially not when you catch a cold afterward.





	Not Worth the Trouble

“At last, this pathetic forest is mine!” said the alligator king. “And now all of these dumb Tree Friends shall be my slaves! Mwahahahaha!!”

“No, they won’t, you stupid jerk!” a voice said.

King K Rool turned to look behind him, only to see Lumpy looking at him in anger.

“Who on Earth are you?” King K Rool asked, but Lumpy didn’t answer his question.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” said Lumpy. “And I’m not gonna let that happen!”

“Ha ha ha!” K Rool laughed once again, this time to taunt the moose that had come for him. “You really think you could stand a chance against me, you idiotic moose?”

“I’m not IDIOTIC!” Lumpy stepped directly on King K Rool’s foot as hard as he could.

“Oww!!” K Rool flinched and held his foot in pain.

“You like that?“ Lumpy asked, almost sarcastically. “By the way, this is for threatening our home!”

He punched K Rool in the stomach, causing him to groan in pain. Then he grabbed King K Rool’s neck and began to strangle him. The alligator’s eyes were wide open as he struggled to breathe.

“And this is for being mean to my friends!” Lumpy said.

Then he let go, and K Rool panted for air as he held his throat with both hands.

“No... please, I can’t take...” Suddenly King K Rool’s eyes went wide again, this time in horror. “OH, MY GOD!”

Lumpy had picked up a gigantic mallet and was now holding it high above his head.

“And THIS IS FOR GIVING US NIGHTMARES!!!”

With all of his might, he slammed the mallet directly on top of King K Rool’s head, knocking him out. He fell to the ground and lay there, seeing stars. Lumpy stood where he was, panting as he tried to calm down. Before he could say anything more, however, he heard a rather tough voice.

“What the?!”

Lumpy turned around to see who was speaking, seeing a dark brown gator and a light blue gator.

“What the heck did you do to the king?!” Klump demanded to know.

“That wasn’t very nice, you know,” Krusha stated.

Lumpy looked at both of them, then told them, “Yeah, but neither are you guys.”

Then he gathered up the last of his strength to hit Klump and Krusha’s heads with the mallet he still had in his hands. They, too, fell to the floor, unconscious. Feeling better, Lumpy sighed and wiped his forehead with his hand.

“I’ve done it. I’ve beaten King K Rool, and also these stupid alligators, too,” Lumpy said with a smile.

He put down the mallet, and the handle landed perfectly in Klump’s hand. This made it look like he were the one who’d knocked out King K Rool, Krusha and himself. Lumpy panted a few more times as he turned and made his way out of the castle.

“Hmm... that’s weird...” Lumpy said to himself. “I saved the day, but I feel like it wasn’t worth all the trouble I went through. I wonder why...”

Suddenly, Lumpy felt a strong tickle in his nose. His eyelids lowered as his nostrils began to flare up, and his snout began to twitch around.

“Aaaah... Haaaaah...” Lumpy tilted his neck back a few times before his eyes squeezed shut. He was going to sneeze. “HAAAAAAHHHHH-- CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Lumpy shot his upper body forwards as he released the sneeze, with a good amount of spray being released from his mouth. A particularly large amount of green mucus came out of his nose as well. Lumpy then rubbed his nose with his forefinger, sniffling loudly.

“Uuugh...” Lumpy could see that his nose was turning a bright red shade. Had he caught a cold? “And dow I dod’t feel so good.”

As Lumpy made his way back to the forest where the Happy Tree Friends lived, he kept sniffling and rubbing his nose. Even though it was running, it felt like it was stuffed up at the same time. Yep, he had definitely caught a cold. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing or hearing how his friends would react to this, especially after he’d saved them.

After a particularly long walk, Lumpy made it home. Needless to say, he was exhausted. The first thing he did after he’d gotten inside and closed the door behind him was grab a tissue from a nearby box and wipe his nose.

Lumpy was sniffling and snuffling as he rubbed the tissue against his nose, trying to stop it from running. He could tell it wasn’t working, however. In fact, he could feel another tickle growing deep within his nose. Was his rubbing making it worse, or was his cold that bad? He couldn’t tell. Either way, another sneeze was coming.

“Huuuh... Aaaaah...” Lowering his tissue from his nose, Lumpy gave another sniffle in a last-ditch effort to keep the sneeze from coming. But it was no use; he was about to sneeze. “HaaaaaAAAAAH--“

“TCHOOOOOOOOO!!! AAAAAAH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

To his own surprise, it wasn’t one sneeze, but a loud double. He could feel more mucus being expelled from his nose. Lumpy blew his nose loudly into his tissue, then wiped it repeatedly with a few more loud snuffles. He had to face the facts, he was sick. Sick from saving his friends from the terrible King K Rool.

“Ugh. What could be worse than catching a code from saving the day?” Lumpy wondered sadly to himself.

Suddenly he heard the doorbell ring. Even if he didn’t know who was there at first, Lumpy was dismayed; he knew something was going to go down. He threw out his used tissue, pulled out another one from his box and went to answer the door.

“Hi, Lumpy!” a familiar voice greeted him.

Lumpy looked down at the guest. It was his best friend Sniffles, and he looked like he was filled with joy.

“Oh, hello, Sdiffles,” said Lumpy with a little smile.

“I heard from someone that you managed to defeat King K Rool all by yourself!” said Sniffles. He didn’t notice, but Lumpy’s eyes widened as soon as he had realized he knew his secret. “Is that true?”

Lumpy sniffled as he tried to come up with a way to answer that question. He knew that Sniffles was proud of him, but he wasn’t sure he could celebrate right now.

“Actually...” Lumpy started. “I might have defeated him, yes.” Another loud sniffle.

“I knew it! I just KNEW you’d be able to!” Sniffles squealed. “Way to go, Lumpy!”

Lumpy just whimpered a little and wiped his nose with his hand. He wasn’t in the mood to be congratulated. He was in the mood to cry. Why couldn’t he be resting in bed and wiping his nose instead of dealing with Sniffles’ happy comments?

“Lumpy?” Sniffles looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the matter?”

“I dod’t...” Lumpy started, but his nose twitched before he could finish his sentence. One inhale later, he released a rather familiar-sounding sneeze into his tissue. “Ah... K’choo!”

At least the sneeze wasn’t nearly as loud as the last few he’d released. Lumpy sniffled and rubbed his nose ever so gently with his forefinger.

“Bless you, Lumpy,” said Sniffles. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Ndo...” Lumpy kept rubbing his nose, still giving a few sniffs; some were runny, some were stuffy. “I thidk I cabe dowd with sobethidg right after I saved the day.” He blew his nose loudly into his tissue.

“Oh, no... You can’t be serious, Lumpy,” said Sniffles. He sounded like he couldn’t believe it, but Lumpy wasn’t surprised if he couldn’t.

“I’b sorry.” Lumpy wiped underneath his nose with his tissue. Sniffles felt his forehead with his hand, and it felt a little warm.

“Hmm, you seem to have come down with a fever,” said Sniffles. “But does your nose feel runny or stuffy?”

“Both at the sabe tibe...” Lumpy lamented. Suddenly his nose twitched again, and his nostrils flared to twice their normal size. Another sneeze was on the way, and it was going to be a big one. “Aaah... Aaaaah... AHHHHHHH...”

Sniffles looked at him in curiosity at first, but upon the third inhale, his eyes widened in fear. He stepped out of the way so he wouldn’t be sneezed on, and plugged his ears with his forefingers. With a final desperate wiggle from his snout, Lumpy exploded.

“CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!” The sneeze echoed all throughout the forest, blew an incredible amount of mucus from Lumpy’s nose, and caused Sniffles’ ears to ring a bit. But Lumpy hadn’t finished sneezing; almost as soon as he’d recovered, he gave three smaller but equally loud sneezes.

“ACHOOOOOOOOO!!! HACHOOOOOOOOO!!! NNNTCHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

And just like that, Lumpy’s nose had started running again. He rubbed it repeatedly with his forefinger - he couldn’t use the tissue in his hand any more than he already had - as he blushed in embarrassment. Sniffles looked at him in disbelief.

“Oh, my goodness...” said Sniffles. “Gesundheit, Lumpy!”

“Thadk you...” Lumpy replied, forefinger under nose. “Ugh. I gotta go ad blow by dose...”

Lumpy went back over to his tissue box, pulled out two tissues and blew his nose quite audibly into them. As he did this, Sniffles came into the house.

“I don’t know about you, Lumpy,” said Sniffles, “but I’m afraid you have definitely caught a cold.”

“I dew that.” Lumpy rubbed his runny nose with his tissues after he was done blowing.

Sniffles sulked in sadness. “Aww... this is terrible.”

“I dow. Everywud says being sick isd’t fud, ad boy, were they right...”

“No, Lumpy, it’s not that,” Sniffles replied. “But the fact that you saved us from that mean, evil alligator king is a big moment. I wanted to come over and suggest we all do something to celebrate...”

Lumpy just looked at him. He knew he was going to suggest something like this, and he was still unhappy.

“Really, Sdiffles?” Lumpy asked. “You wadt to celebrate with be?” Another sniffle.

“Well, I promised every one of our other friends I’d ask you and let you know what you thought,” said Sniffles.

Lumpy tried to think about whether to accept or decline the idea. But before he could say anything, another sneeze escaped. It was a wetter sneeze this time.

“Aaaaah-SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Sniffles cringed when he heard the sneeze, but he was lucky that he didn’t get sprayed. Lumpy rubbed his poor nose again with his forefinger, then blew it into a tissue.

“Gesundheit,” said Sniffles as Lumpy wiped his nose.

“I’b sorry, Sdiffles,” said Lumpy. “I’b dot sure we should celebrate. I’ll just get everywud sick, too.”

“That’s a good point, but we’re all really, truly happy that you saved us,” Sniffles replied. “By the way, the reason I asked was that we were preparing a huge party for you to celebrate.”

“Oh, no...” Lumpy whimpered in horror. He needed to sob, badly, but he had to resist the urge.

“And it’s at my house, too. Would you like to join?”

“No, thadks,” Lumpy replied, his voice trembling. “I’d rather stay hobe... with all by tissues...” He sniffled once more, both in sickness and sadness.

Sniffles placed his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “There’s plenty of tissues at my house, too. I’ll let you use as many as you want. And I’ll stay by your side and keep you company until the party’s over, too. How does that sound?”

Lumpy thought about his options. He really didn’t want to go to the party, he really didn’t. But he didn’t want to disappoint Sniffles for not wanting to celebrate his victory, and Sniffles had just said he would keep him company, so he gave in.

“Alright, I’ll come,” said Lumpy. “But I should warn you, I dod’t feel good... like, at all.”

“I understand,” Sniffles said with a smile. “Let me know when you’re ready to go, okay?”

Lumpy nodded, then went upstairs for a minute. At least he’d stopped crying at this point. He went into his bedroom, opened one of the dresser doors and picked out a couple of clean handkerchiefs. Sniffles had already told him he had tissues waiting for him at the party, but he wanted to be extra careful. Lumpy placed the handkerchiefs in his pocket, then closed the dresser and left the bedroom.

As he made his way down the stairs, however, Lumpy felt another massive tickle in his nose.

“Aaaah... Haaaaaah... HAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

And just like that, a particularly large amount of saliva and mucus exploded out of his mouth and nose. From the moment he recovered until he’d made it downstairs, Lumpy placed his forefinger underneath his nose.

“Gesundheit!” said Sniffles. He handed him a tissue, which Lumpy blew his nose into. Lumpy then coughed a little as he wiped his nose with the tissue, and then he and Sniffles headed out of the house.

It was a lovely late afternoon, with no clouds in the sky. But as he and Sniffles were on their way to the party, Lumpy couldn’t help but sniffle and rub his nose constantly. He was feeling really sick; his throat was aching, his head was hurting... Even his tummy was throbbing. He also felt like Sniffles just didn’t understand how awful he felt. All of these things brought pangs of tears back to his eyes.

When they finally got to Sniffles’ house, Lumpy was dismayed to learn that all of the other Tree Friends were there as well. He pulled out one of his white handkerchiefs to wipe his nose, but then he had to sneeze again. So he went ahead and sneezed, but it was quite explosive.

“AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Lumpy then groaned and blew his nose for one second into his handkerchief. He was more than certain that everyone had heard him, but he was too ill and depressed to care. As he wiped his nose, Giggles walked up to him. She was clearly happy that he’d saved his friends.

“Oh, Lumpy! I’m so proud of you!” said Giggles.

“Ugh...” Lumpy sniffled. “You do realize I just sdeezed super loudly, right?” He rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“Oh, sorry. Gesundheit,” said Giggles.

“Thadk you,” Lumpy said.

“If it weren’t for you, we’d still be dealing with that mean alligator,” Giggles went on. “But you’ve saved the day!”

Lumpy sighed unhappily. He just wanted to sneeze in Giggles’ face right now, but he couldn’t; it just wasn’t something he would do on purpose. At least he didn’t have to sneeze again yet...

“Lumpy?” Giggles asked, having realized Lumpy wasn’t answering her. “What’s wrong?”

“Giggles, I’b glad we dod’t have to deal with that alligator, either,” Lumpy said, “but do you kdow what we do have to deal with dow?”

“I don’t, what?” Giggles wanted to know.

“We have to deal with be havidg a really bad code,” Lumpy replied. He sneezed again to prove his point, but he covered his nose with his handkerchief so he wouldn’t spray Giggles. “HAAAAAH-SHUUU!!!”

Giggles gasped in surprise, realizing Lumpy wasn’t even kidding. “Oh, my goodness!”

Lumpy sniffled and rubbed his nose with his forefinger, then wiped his nose with his handkerchief.

“Oh, Lumpy, I’m so sorry you’re not feeling well!” Giggles said. “Is it because of something the alligator did to you?”

Lumpy shook his head. “I didn’t catch this code udtil AFTER I was dode with him. Talk about bad luck, huh?”

Giggles nodded in agreement. “Why don’t you rest on the couch? I’m sure that’ll help you feel better. And by the way, bless you.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Lumpy replied with another sniff. “Thadks.”

Lumpy made his way over to the couch and sat down on it, folding up his handkerchief and placing it back in his pocket. He sat there, his hands on his cheeks, not caring as he listened to his friends talking and laughing. Why was everyone happier about Lumpy saving them and not caring about what had happened to the poor guy afterwards? He just didn’t understand...

“Hey, Sdiffles?” Lumpy turned his head to Sniffles, who looked at him. “May I have wud of your boxes of tissues, please?”

“Of course, Lumpy.” Sniffles reached behind his back, pulled out a box of tissues and handed it to him.

“Thadk you.” Lumpy sniffled again, pulled out one of the tissues and wiped some tears from his eyes with it. He couldn’t help but continue to whimper a few times.

After almost a minute of being in silent tears, he heard a couple of familiar voices.

“Lumpy?”

Lumpy looked up at the Tree Friends in front of him. It was Lifty and Shifty.

“You alright?” Lifty wanted to know.

Lumpy shook his head without saying a word. The last people he wanted to talk to right now were Lifty and Shifty. Oh, if only he had to sneeze, he would have done it straight into their faces...

“What’s wrong, dude?” Shifty wanted to know.

“You... you wouldn’t understand...” Lumpy told them.

“Well, if there’s one thing I don’t understand...” Lifty wanted to joke about this, but he decided not to. He’d most likely just make it worse. “...it’s why you’re not happy when everyone else is.”

Lumpy sniffled again. “Sobething awful happened to be after I saved you guys.”

“And what happened?” Shifty asked.

Lumpy’s nose twitched again, as though it wanted to respond so Lumpy wouldn’t have to. Another sneeze was on the way. Lumpy would have gone ahead and sneezed on Lifty and Shifty, but he’d already decided it wouldn’t be worth infecting them with his cold. So Lumpy pulled out another tissue and began to inhale.

“Aaaaah... Haaaaaah...”

The raccoons looked at him in curiosity, but then their eyes widened and pupils shrunk in fear. Lumpy was going to sneeze, so they stepped out of the way and plugged their ears with their forefingers. A final inhale later, Lumpy tilted his upper body back and exploded.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH-- SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Lumpy shot his neck forwards as he released a massive sneeze, with large amounts of spit and mucus escaping from his mouth and nose. As soon as he’d caught his breath, he blushed, pulled out a few more tissues and covered his nose with them. He could see that Lifty and Shifty were looking at him, eyes wide with disbelief.

“My God...” said Shifty.

“Gesundheit!” he and Lifty said in unison.

Lumpy blew his nose loudly, and then wiped his nose with his tissues. “Thadk you...”

A few seconds of wiping later, Lumpy pulled the tissues away from his face and rubbed his nose repeatedly with his forefinger.

“As you cad see, I have come down with a really, really bad code,” Lumpy told Lifty and Shifty. “I caught it right after I saved the day.”

“How the heck did we not know that?!” Shifty asked himself.

“Oh, man... I’m so sorry, Lumpy,” said Lifty in sympathy.

“That’s why I didd’t-- Ah-choo! --wadt to go to this-- Hah-choo! --this party Sdiffles set up for be... Ah-tchu!!” Each time Lumpy sneezed while he spoke, his forefinger went straight back to under his nose. At least none of these sneezes had any visible mess.

Both of the raccoons were looking at him in complete sadness, not to mention concern.

“You’ve got to be the most unlucky Tree Friend in the world...” Shifty mentioned. Lumpy couldn’t help but nod, not only because he agreed, but because it was true.

“Why couldd’t this be a get well party,” Lumpy asked as he rubbed his nose, “idstead of a ‘You saved the day ad we’re so proud of you’ party?”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” said Lifty. “But yeah, you could really use some care...”

“How about we talk to Sniffles about your idea? It’s not like he doesn’t care about you,” said Shifty.

Lumpy nodded in agreement and stayed on the couch, while Lifty and Shifty went to talk to Sniffles. Even as he sniffled and wiped his nose, Lumpy could hear their conversation.

“Hey, Sniffles?” Shifty asked.

“Yeah?”

“Lumpy’s really not feeling good,” said Lifty. “You know that, right?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware of that,” said Sniffles.

“No, really. He’s really sick,” said Shifty. “It’s great that he saved us, but don’t you think it’s too bad he managed to catch a cold right after?”

“Nntchh!” Lumpy stifled a sneeze into his tissue, which he then wiped his nose with.

“You know...” Sniffles thought about what the raccoons had told him. He looked over at Lumpy, who was sniffling and still wiping his red nose. “You’re right. Maybe I should’ve just let him stay home...”

“By the way, he told us something about wishing he had a get well party instead of this kind of party,” Lifty went on.

“Oh, he did?” Sniffles asked. “Perhaps we should have done something like that, yes...”

“But you know what? I think I’ll take some time to take care of him,” Sniffles decided. “He did save us after all, and he deserves better than a cold.”

“You couldn’t be righter,” said Lifty. “Need some help?”

“No, thank you,” Sniffles said. “I wouldn’t want you guys to get sick, too. I’ll be right back, I’m gonna take Lumpy upstairs.”

Sniffles made his way over to Lumpy and helped him off the couch.

“Come on, Lumpy,” said Sniffles, “let’s get you to a nice warm bed.”

Lumpy smiled at the idea and picked up his box of tissues. Then he and Sniffles went up the stairs and headed into the guest room. Once they’d gotten there, Lumpy lay down in the bed while Sniffles tucked him in.

“If there’s anything you need from me, Lumpy,” Sniffles stated, “all you have to do is tell me.”

Lumpy nodded in understanding, and then gave another sneeze, which caused some mucus to escape from his nose. “Huuuhhhh-chooooo!!”

“Gesundheit,” Sniffles said as Lumpy rubbed his nose a few times with his forefinger.

“Thadk you.” Lumpy sniffled, pulled out another tissue and blew his nose with it. Then he wiped his nose cutely, causing Sniffles to blush.

“Why don’t you take a nap? I’m sure that’ll make you feel better,” the anteater suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Lumpy pulled his tissue away from his nose, then covered his opening mouth with his hand as he took a deep breath. It looked a bit like he was going to sneeze again, but he was just yawning. “I have had a long day, after all...”

“Yes, you have. And if you’re still not feeling well by the time you wake up, I’ll make you some soup. How does that sound?”

Another sniffle from Lumpy. “Sounds good. Thadk you, Sdiffles.”

“You’re welcome, Lumpy.”

Sniffles went over to the front door and placed his hand on the light switch next to it. He turned his head towards Lumpy with a comforting smile.

“Sweet dreams, Lumpy... our hero.”

Lumpy blushed when he heard the last two words. With that, the room was filled with darkness, and Sniffles closed the door behind him. The only light in the room at this point was coming from the setting sun outside. Lumpy lay in the bed, one hand over another, as his eyelids fell shut. Before long, he could hear the crickets chirping from outside.

The day he recovered from his cold, Lumpy had decided, would be the day he would celebrate his victory against King K Rool. For the time being, however, resting and recovering from his encounter with him would be enough. One thing was for sure, however: Lumpy had saved his friends, and he was being rewarded with extra attention and some tender loving care. And even a little tender loving care was worth the unfortunate cold he’d caught.


End file.
